Toe creasing machine



Nov. 3G, 1948. R. w. WIR-rz TOEV CREASING MACHINE Filed NOV. l2, 1947 2e l INVENTOR.

' I Z @Oggi/Q7' W//?7 Patented Nov. 30, 1948 STATES PATENT carrier.,

l 'vl i This invention relates to shoe making andV has special' reference to a ballet shoe toe creaser.

'Int-he manufacture of ballet shoes the most d-iiiicn'l'ft' opera-tion isthe formation, underneath rthe toeportion ofthe shoe, of long, straight, even wrinklesA running longitudinally of the shoe and providing alternate ribs and grooves. This operati-.on has heretofore been considered a manual operation and has not only required the services ora highly trainedl operator but has also required `much time.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel apparatus whereby creasing for the production of such wrinkles may be quickly and correctly accomplished by a person with practicallyf'no skillas well as is done by the most skilled operator.

Another important object of the invention is toprovidea novel mechanism whereby the creasingf'is done successively from the center ofthe sh'oe outwardly.v

A further object of the invention is to provide means of'novelfcharacter to support the shoe and secure even spacing of the creases.

'A 'stillv further object of the inventionl is to provideanovel' arrangement of the mechanism wherebyI only a small width of the shoe will be creased at; av time so as to avoid the undue strain on the leather which would occur if the entire suracewa's-attempted to be creased at one time.

'Yet another object of the invention is to providemeans; whereby the crease forming means may be vreleas'ably locked in desired crease forming position.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in general of certain novel details fof-construction and combinations of parts hereinafter Ifullfy-described illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly claimed.

`'In-the 'accompanying drawings like characters 'of reference indicate like parts in the several views,land- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a general assemblyof the operative parts of the machine and showing-y a portion of a ballet shoe in position thereon.

I TEli`gure--2 is a partial section on the line 2-2 ofFiglure 1'.

v'iigure n3fis a detail section on the line 3-3 of Figure-l showing -thedisclosed parts in one position:

1lig-ure 4 'is adetail-section on saidline 3-3 of EFigure 1-A with the parts-in another position.

Figure '5l is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig- Te1f1.

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Itis to be noted that thereis herevshown only the workingpartsffof" the machine but it is` `to be; understoody that these parts are to be mounted on, a frame, bench or other suitable meansfto hold the parts in proper operative relationship'b The apparatus itself includes a casing: |01 having'sidelwalls H wherein is journalled a shaft |42 provided ononef-ends withf a crank i3". At' the central portion of the shaft Il2'f there is fixed a *pa-irV of laterally spaced camy arms Hl and spaced successively outside of each of these arel paired cam arms l5; IG and `I-vl. These cam arms are so spaced around the sha-ft that they may.- be brought in pairs intothe vertical positionshown by l`the'cam arms -I inrFig-ure 2. ./-ilternatingY on the shaft l2 with these cam arms are disks.'v I8; Behind the disks l81is a shaft I9 which has its endslinedV in thel casing sides Hr. Rockingly mounted on'l the shaft -Ilis a series of levers, 20 each having a forwardrendV extending below and engageable by =a respective cam arm. These levers. are 'receivedi-n' the spaces between adja- 4cent disks I8; These levers` alsohave rear arms 2l, which are connected individually. by springs 23-to an anchorblock 22'. From thedrawings it will be plain that rotation of the shaft |2 by the crank `l3\ will effect successive depressionA of.' the forward ends of-thelevers 2.0 and that after each campasses thevertical position shown. in Figure atl-ie forward ends lof? 'the lever 4controlled by that cam willrise-under the 'influence of a spring 2'3; these prefer-ably beingy coiled tension springs.

There is also' provided# a iinger plate which consists of parallel fingers 24'Jmounted on a pair of rods- 25 and held in 'spaced relationby spacers 2t; `the spacing of the fingers being such4 as .to permit the entry between adjacent ngers of one of the levers and two thicknesses ofv leather as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4.

In order to hold the forward ends of the levers 20 in selectively depressed adjustment thereyis provided a vertically fixed ratchet bar '2l having teeth 28 equal in number'tozthe number'ofpairs offcam arms and, therefore, equal in number to the number of pairsof levers 20. A pedal 29 .is supported aty one end by a fulcrum- 30' and is connectedliby a link ortie 3l with thecrank I'3'. The free end lof this pedal moves beside the ratchet bar and has yenough lateral play to` be engaged beneath and freedv from any tooth 28: lByfthis means any pair of levers 20 may have their forwardvends latched down. i

In connection with the above described: VLmechanism there-is provided the usual last 32,1and in operation the last 'is positioned in front lof' the levers, with an insole 33 placed thereon. The shoe upper is then put in position on the last and the rear sides and heel portions brought over and pasted down on the insole. Paste is then applied to the forward portion of the insole. In the manufacture of 'this type of shoe a wide sole lapping portion is provided at the front of the shoe so that it may be brought back and form a loose portion 35. Before this portion has been brought back the linger plate is positioned on the pasted insole in such manner that the levers will properly engage between the fingers. Now the folding over of the toe leather is accomplished and the finger plate will lie beneath this loose leather. The crank is now operated whereupon the middle pair of levers will come down as in Figure 3. Further movement of the crank will bring down the next pair of levers. Also in Figure 4 the middle pair of fingers are shown as fully depressed which causes the toe leather to engage on the pasted portion of the insole; When any pair of levers is in such engagement, the pedal may be latched and thus lhold the engagement until the paste has sufficiently set. When all the loose toe leather has been gathered in this manner the finger plate is withdrawn, a sole (not shown) is putin place to cover the ends of the creases and is stitched in place, completing this part of the shoe.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a linger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, levers movable into and out ofthe spaces lbetween said fingers, a lever operating device for so moving said levers, and a latching device co-operating with the lever operating device to restrain the levers selectively from moving from between said fingers.

' '2. 'In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, and a lever operating device for so moving said levers, said operating device being arranged to move said levers in successive pairs.

` 3. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, levers movable into and out of thespaces between said fingers, a lever operating device'for so moving said levers, said operating device being arranged to move said levers inV successive pairs, and a latching device cooperating with the lever operating device to restrain the levers selectively from moving from between said lingers.

4. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate .with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spacedlevers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said ngers, and springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams.

f5. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, and latch means restraining movement of said cams into position to allow selective levers to move from between selective fingers of said finger plate. 6. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced v fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, and guide plates on said shaft alternating with said cams.

7. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, latch means restraining movement of said cams into position to allow selective levers to move from ybetween selective fingers of said finger plate, and guide plates on said shaft alternating with said cams.

8. In a `ballet shoe toe creaser adapt-ed to coopcrate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable `into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging sa-id levers for moving saidlevers intothe yspaces between said fingers, said cams being spaced around said shaft inpairs and successively engaging and operating pairs of the levers, and springs eng-aged with said levers `and acting in oppositionto said cams. 9. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, said cams being spaced around said shaft in pairs and successively eng-aging and operating pairs of the levers, springs engaged with said levers and a-cting in opposition to said cams, and latch means restraining movement of said cams into position to allow selective levers to move from between selective fingers of said finger plate.

l0. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate lwith a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movableinto and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft. spaced cams Ion said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, said cams being spaced around said shaft in pairs and successively engaging and operating pairs of the levers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, and guide plates on said shaft alternating with said cams.

11, In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooperate with a Anger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fin-gers, said-cams being spaced around said shaft in pairs land successively eng-aging and operating pairs of the levers, springs engagedy with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, guide plates yon said shaft alternating with said fcams, and latch means restraining movement of said cams into position to allow selective levers to move from between selective fingers of said finger plate.

12. In -a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to co,-y operate with a finger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced leversmovable into and out of the spaces between said ngers, a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said leversfgi moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, a crank on said shaft, a pedal lever having operative connection with said crank, and a latch bar wherewith said pedal lever engages.

13. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to co operate with a nger plate having spaced fingers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, Va shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said fingers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, guide plates on said shaft alternating with said cams, a crank on said shaft, a pedal lever having operative connection with said crank, and a latch bar wherewith said pedal lever engages.

14. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to cooper-ate with a nger plate having spaced ngers positioned on a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said fingers, -a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said ngers, said c-ams being spaced around said shaft in pairs and successively engaging and operating pairs of the levers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, a crank on said shaft, a pedal lever having operative connection with said crank, and a latch bar wherewith said pedal lever engages.

15. In a ballet shoe toe creaser adapted to c0- oper-ate with a finger plate having spaced ngers positioned Ion a shoe, spaced levers movable into and out of the spaces between said ngers, `a shaft, spaced cams on said shaft engaging said levers for moving said levers into the spaces between said nge-rs, said cams being spaced around said shaft in pairs and successively eng-aging and operating pairs of the levers, springs engaged with said levers and acting in opposition to said cams, guide plates on said shaft alternating with said cams, a crank on said shaft, a pedal lever having operative connection with said crank, and a latch bar wherewith said pedal lever engages.

ROBERT W. WIRTZ.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wood Oct. 9, 1888 Number 

